How to Choose The Right Service Spine For Your Laboratory

Having the right service spines in your laboratory can make a large difference to the functionality of your new laboratory space. It is important to understand the purpose and designed outcomes of your laboratory so the service spine design can be aligned with this to maximum return on investment.

Visibility between benching vs Storage space above benching

Are you looking to declutter and provide a space that appears tidy and corporate at all times? Eliminating overhead storage can assist with greatly and will insist on storing items in appropriate storage areas or under the bench. By having overhead storage, you can create efficiencies if managed in a structured manner, otherwise these areas will be used and tend to end up cluttered storage spaces that can obstruct visibility. Benchmade services or slimline service are great for creating openness and transparency by keeping eye level horizons clear.

If you are looking for individual workstation functionality and KanBan inventory management, having small stocks of inventory at hand on overhead shelving can be useful and productive.

Number of gas points per island

How many gas points are you running to your work stations? Is there one gas point? Is there 8 gas points? The size of the service conduit can depend greatly on the number of service and service types running through it. If there is minimal or no gas points required, the lab may get away with a service bollard coming up from the bench. These can be bench or floor mounted depending on the origin of the gas.

When these are multiple gas points, a larger conduit may be required to contain these lines. There are many different types of gas turret outlet types assist with gaining efficiencies within differing service spine layouts. These are to facilitate benchmount, ceiling mount, wall mount and remote options. The team at Westlab can quickly review you requirements and make some recommendations based on the assessment.

GPO’s and data points

What are you doing in your lab space? What is the maximum number of benchtop equipment that will be in each space? Do you have instrumentation that requires data or 15Amp outlets? Value stream mapping your process allows you to understand basic power and data requirements in peak production or use ensuring that you have sufficient services.

If a lot of equipment is permanently being placed on laboratory benching, you may like to consider streamlined vertical power mounts. This is popular with larger 3rd party laboratory providers where visibility and speed of throughput is required.

Benching reconfigurability

Do you need to reconfigure benching regularly? You need to consider floor mounted spines so nothing is attached the benching. This allows you to add and remove benching in minutes. If you are looking for a seamless benchtop and modularity is not important to you, bench mounted service spines can be considered for potential initial cost savings.

In today’s rapidly changing environments, simple and modular systems are being used more and more to assist with the speed of changing dynamics in the laboratory space. With Automation and robotics changing methodologies and becoming more affordable, a modular system can configure to facilitate requirements.

Services piping

Service origin, whether it be wall, floor or ceiling can have a big impact on the service type that you choose. For example, if you services all come from the floor, it would be a lot of initial investment to run them to a ceiling hanging service spine. If services coming from a wall, there are many ways to utilize most service spines types.

PC2 compliance

If PC2 compliance is required in a laboratory there are a few considerations that will impact service spine design. Shelving needs to be fixed to eliminate adjustable slots that void PC2 compliance. Screw holes, slots, internal gaps and cracks need to be sealed, ideally in the manufacturing process to eliminate on site polyurethane ceiling.

The projects team at Westlab would love to hear about your challenges so we can assist with an outcome that will most suit your purpose and application. Call our team on 1800 358 101 or email sales@westlab.com.au

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